The Department of Media, Film and Journalism Studies is devoted to exploring the ways in which television, film, radio, print, web and social media connect individuals with the world and how these mediated relationships help shape the societies in which people live. The department has an innovative and creative faculty with many areas of specialization. Faculty expertise is centered in these areas of study:

The four majors all provide the theoretical grounding and leading-edge experience necessary to address the complex challenges of mediated communication. We also offer a minor in film/media studies and production.

The department also offers internship experiences with local, regional, national and international placements. Career opportunities for graduates in communications, film and television, journalism and digital media studies include a wide range of positions in business, nonprofit organizations, media, government and education.

Film Studies and Production

The film studies and production major facilitates a solid grounding in the history, theory, production and criticism of motion picture arts. Students acquire critical skills in the reading and analysis of media texts together with those involved in various modes of motion-picture production. Students are encouraged to consider the consequences and ethical implications of the approaches to style and content they choose, and are encouraged to situate their work within the many historical contexts presented in the various production, history and criticism classes. The major teaches narrative, documentary and experimental modes of script/screenwriting and filmmaking; establishes a technical proficiency in camera use, lighting, digital editing software and sound design; and develops the ability to write script treatments and project proposals, as well as critical arguments about media representations and constructions.

Journalism Studies

Students are encouraged to develop understandings of the media through coursework that aims to challenge them and prepare them for the changing journalism environment by developing their basic understandings in law, ethics, theory and history of the media.

Internship in Mass Communication (Prereq: Must have completed MFJS 2140 Newswriting and Reporting and MFJS 2240 Online and Visual Journalism and have a 3.0 GPA.)

Total Credits

40

1

Approved by the student's advisor.

2

Only four credits of internship may be applied toward the first 40 credits required for the major. An additional four credits of internship may be applied beyond the 40-credit minimum.

Media Studies

This major is designed for students who want to gain a broad knowledge of media industries and of media studies grounded in history, foundations, globalization and media theory. It is also intended to take advantage of the particular skills and resources of the faculty in the Department of Media, Film and Journalism Studies. Contemporary communications media—including traditional mass media as well as interactive and digital media—are integral to political, economic and cultural life today. The major emphasizes course work that examines the role and influence of media in society from various perspectives.

Only four credits of internship may be applied toward the first 40 credits required for the major. An additional four credits of internship may be applied beyond the 40-credit minimum.

Strategic Communication

The strategic communication major emphasizes communication theory and practice, grounded in history and strategic planning. This major introduces students to the concepts, skills and issues associated with different types of public information campaigns and other forms of strategic messaging. Students benefit from the varied expertise of our faculty in nonprofit, international, intercultural, health, corporate, crisis and political messaging as they learn what it means to be a strategic, ethical and culturally sensitive communicator in the fields of public relations, advertising and health communication.

Fundamentals of newswriting and reporting for print and broadcast journalism. Laboratory fee required.

MFJS 2150 Scriptwriting (4 Credits)

Fundamentals of writing for film and television. Cross listed with MFJS 4450. Prerequisite: MFJS 2000 or permission of instructor.

MFJS 2200 Emergent Digital Practices and Cultures (4 Credits)

This course introduces students to the historical, economic, legal and social contexts of emergent digital practices and explores the various ways technology shapes and is shapedby culture. The rapid growth of participatory culture online through, for example, social networking sites, interactive news sites, gaming, mobile apps, and blogging has significant social implications and brings up issues of privacy, intellectual property, and the nature of community and public engagement. This class will explore these issues through various theoretical lens and concrete cases including politics, youth culture, activism, news and art. Particular emphasis will be placed on the question of how new media differs from mass media across various fields of cultural production (music, news, advertising, for example) and on what influence new digital products and practices might have on these industries and on cultures and societies more generally. This course counts towards the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement. Cross-listed with EDPX 2200.

MFJS 2210 Introduction to Media and Culture (4 Credits)

Course introduces students to the organization of the U.S. media industries and their historical and contemporary role in U.S. culture. This course counts toward the Scientific Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

MFJS 2240 Online & Visual Journalism (4 Credits)

An introduction to web-based, print, video, and audio news in a rolling deadline format. It also includes a project-based cross-cultural component to highlight internationalization of the news industries and to build upon the internationalization focus of the University. Prerequisite: MFJS 2140.

MFJS 2280 Politics and Media (4 Credits)

We examine the nature of the media and how media institutions shape the way citizens understand politics. We discuss global media institutions and the role media play in various societies. We explore the role of media in providing information for citizens in a democracy, examine how the media influence the political process, and investigate how the goals of and changes within the media industry influence the effect media coverage has on the political process. Through our study, we explore how the media either enhance or limit the potential for citizens to contribute to democracy. This course counts toward the Scientific Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

MFJS 2290 Innovations in Media and Communications (4 Credits)

Today, it is difficult to imagine a life free of the media. There are more than 4 billion mobile phones in the world, and a billion people are now able to access the Internet. Television is available to close to 100% of people living in the media-saturated societies of North America, western and Eastern Europe, and East Asia, with radio widely available almost everywhere else. Moreover, with YouTube, blogs, online gaming, citizen journalism, experimental film, and peer-to-peer file sharing, people are actively creating and sharing their own news and entertainment experiences like never before. Communication technologies are changing the way money circulates, how and where business is conducted, the ways in which labor is deployed, and how people communicate between home and work, national and diasporic contexts. The media are facilitating both globalization and cultural hybridity, at times securing social cohesion and at other moments facilitating social movements for change. Where do these technologies come from? Who controls them? Who profits from them? How are they used, and with what potential implications? What does the future hold? These are some of the questions the class will address. This course counts toward the Analytical Inquiry: Society and Culture requirement.

MFJS 2400 Strategic Communication Planning (4 Credits)

This course introduces students to foundational principles in strategic communication and covers both public relations and advertising. Students learn and apply the elements of a comprehensive strategic communication plan, including conducting research, setting communication goals, designing messaging strategies and tactics, and evaluating the plan's effectiveness. An emphasis on ethical communication practices is central to the course.

MFJS 2992 Directed Study (1-10 Credits)

MFJS 3000 MFJS Undergraduate Assessment Requirement (0 Credits)

This zero credit hour course is designed to enable undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Media, Film and Journalism Studies majors and minors to complete an assessment file prior to their graduation. The requirement does not take place in conjunction with a single quarter but is rather completed throughout the student's academic career according to the required coursework within the major or minor.

Introduction to freedom of expression and media law. Students learn how the American legal system works and gain an understanding and appreciation of the philosophical foundations of free expression. In addition, students confront many of the issues facing professional communicators today. Topics include incitement, hate speech, student speech, copyright, defamation, and other issues crucial to mass media professionals. The course examines also explores challenges to free expression brought by new(er) communication technologies. The purpose of this class is to give students the knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to be successful in today’s rapidly changing communication environment. Cross-listed with MFJS 4300.

MFJS 3110 Audience Research (4 Credits)

Analysis of behavioral research methods as applied to mass communication audiences.

Today's alternative cultures use internet and mobile technologies to access and circulate mainstream information, but also to rapidly exchange information that exists outside mainstream media channels. Activist movements today with access to digital tools and networks are no longer dependent on newspapers and broadcast networks to represent them and to disseminate their messages. We are, however, just beginning to see how the proliferation of alternative networks of communication, and the content, practices, and identities they facilitate, interact with traditional political and business organizations, as well as with traditional media products and practices. This course focuses on media activism over the past half-century tied to various social movements with an emphasis on contemporary protest movements and their use of new and old media tools and strategies. Cross listed with EDPX 3725, MFJS 4725. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of instructor. MFJS, SCOM, MDST, COMN, JOUR, MCOM, IIC, or DMST majors only.

MFJS 3160 Networked Journalism (4 Credits)

This course traces the shift that has taken place over the past 15 years from mass-mediated journalism to networked journalism, with emphasis on experiments in citizen and participatory news and on the changing relationship between journalists and their publics. It explores emergent communication technologies and practices and how they are changing the news media landscape. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of instructor. MFJS, SCOM, MDST, COMN, JOUR, MCOM, IIC, or DMST majors only.

MFJS 3170 Data Journalism (4 Credits)

We swim in a world of data - from election results, budgets and census reports, to Facebook updates and image uploads. Journalists need to know how to find stories in data and shape them in compelling ways. This hands-on course teaches reporters and editors to gather, analyze, and visualize interactive data-driven stories. This emerging discipline touches on information and interactivity design, mapping, graphing, animation tools, and data analysis. You are expected to think like a journalist by evaluating data critically and applying what you learn to news stories, information graphics or web applications. Familiarity with HTML/CSS is helpful, but not required. This is not a course in coding, but programmers of all skill levels are welcome.

This course explores the major intersections of the terms "women" and "film." It is concerned, for example, with the representation of women in film, both in the dominant Hollywood cinema and in alternative filmmaking practices (independent, experimental, documentary, and other national cinemas), with films by women and with women as cinema viewers or spectators. This course examines a variety of feminist approaches (historical, critical, theoretical) relevant to the subject matter. Lab fee. Cross listed with GWST 3203. Prerequisites: MFJS 200 or GWST 1112 or permission of instructor.

MFJS 3205 International & Development Communication (4 Credits)

The course uses a variety of methods and approaches to inspire critical reflection about the complex relationship between communication, culture, media and globalization, (trans)national identity(ies) and development.

MFJS 3206 Film History I: Silent Cinema (4 Credits)

This course explores the international history of film, from the origins of cinema through the late silent period. We examine the ways in which important events such as massive immigration, the Progressive movement, colonialism, World War I, modernism, and the Bolshevik Revolution have altered the face of film history, and look at some of the most important cinematic movements of the period. We discuss film historiography and the special challenges posed by film historical research and writing. Lab fee required. Note: This course is writing-intensive. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

MFJS 3208 Narrative and Longform Journalism (4 Credits)

Students spend time learning the nature and functions of in-depth news reporting for online and print, with a focus on magazine-style feature article writing and editing. Laboratory fee required. Prerequisite: MFJS 2140.

MFJS 3212 Film History II: Sound Cinema (4 Credits)

This course explores the international history of film, from the development of sound cinema through the post-World War II period, 1926-1960. We examine the ways in which important events such as the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, the Second World War, and the Cold War have altered the face of film history, and look at some of the most important cinematic movements of the period. We discuss film historiography and the special challenges posed by film historical research and writing. Lab fee required. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

This course explores the history of film from 1960 to the present. We examine the ways in which important events such as the Cold War, struggles against colonialism, the Vietnam War, globalization, and the rise of religious fundamentalisms have altered the face of film history and look at some of the most important cinematic movements of the period. We discuss film historiography and the special challenges posed by film historical research and writing. Note: Lab fee required. This course is writing-intensive. Lab fee required. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

The first half of a two-course sequence, this class focuses on the various modes and styles of documentary and on selecting and researching a topic for documentary production. Cross listed with MFJS 4219. Prerequisites: MFJS 2000 and MFJS 3215.

This course focuses on the visual aspects of telling a cinematic Story. Students learn the basics of black and white cinematography using 16mm film cameras and/or the basics of color cinematography using high definition digital cameras. The class emphasizes silent storytelling, using lighting, art design and camera movement to develop character and theme. Students read from seminal film theorists about varying approaches to cinematography and write analyses of their own work. Lab fee required.

MFJS 3229 Video Editing is for Everybody (4 Credits)

The goal for this course is for students to have a basic working knowledge of editing using various media elements (video, audio, photos, music, graphics), developing proficiencies using different editing software, and applying a mixture of editing theories and techniques. This is a summer course only.

Students in this course learn and practice the techniques used by broadcast journalists as they write, shoot and edit news packages for television. Laboratory fee required. Prerequisite: MFJS 2140.

MFJS 3410 Strategic Messaging (4 Credits)

This course focuses on learning and applying strategic communication principles to the creation of strategic messages for a client. Students also evaluate strategic communication techniques as they learn how to target a specific audience and learn how strategic messages fit within an overall strategic communication plan. Prerequisite: MFJS 2400.

MFJS 3420 Strategic Communication Seminar (4 Credits)

This is the capstone course in the strategic communication sequence. In this course, students examine special topics in strategic communication and apply what they have learned to group projects in which they take on a client and work together as a team on a strategic communication campaign. Cross listed with MFJS 4070. Prerequisites: MFJS 2400 and MFJS 3410.

MFJS 3440 Global & Multicultural Campaigns (4 Credits)

This course explores several issues and aspects of global and multicultural campaigns, using a combination of readings, lectures, discussions, and presentations from guest speakers with experience in this rapidly expanding field. Students discuss real-world campaigns and learn about the challenges and necessities of planning, implementing and evaluating global and multicultural campaigns. Prerequisite: MFJS 2400.

MFJS 3501 Web Design & Content Development (4 Credits)

This course covers the building and management of web pages. Students must be comfortable planning, creating and integrating social media and third-party content into web sites, along with analytical tools that measure audience engagement. Laboratory fee required. Prerequisite: MFJS 2140 and MFJS 2240.

MFJS 3504 Advanced Multimedia Storytelling and Publishing (4 Credits)

n this course, students tap the reporting, writing, editing and multimedia production and editing skills and knowledge learned and practiced in previous journalism studies classes and apply them to building from scratch, an open content management based multimedia web site. Laboratory fee required. Prerequisites: MFJS 2140 and MFJS 2240.

MFJS 3510 Web Application Development (4 Credits)

The goal of this course is to provide students with the fundamentals of planning and building web database applications using macromedia ColdFusion MX. Students will acquire a range of skills in planning, designing, developing and implementing a web database application. This course is focused on four core areas: Website Management, ColdFusion language, Database Design, and SQL. Prerequisite: DMST 3501 or MFJS 3501.

MFJS 3550 Digital Audio Production (4 Credits)

This class introduces the tools and techniques of digital audio production, including sampling and synthesis; sound editing and effects processing; multitrack recording; audio sequencing and mastering; and distribution.

MFJS 3652 Culture, Gender, and Global Communication (4 Credits)

This course explores the ways in which culture, gender, and communication intersect and shape a variety of issues from an international and intercultural perspective. Using a global feminist perspective, it also focuses on paradigms and paradigm shifts in creating social change. Also explored are alternative paradigms of thought, action and media communications by women and indigenous peoples, which have often been ignored, discounted or buried in history. Cross listed with MFJS 4652 and GWST 3652.

MFJS 3655 Multicultural Journalism (4 Credits)

This course focuses on multicultural approaches to journalism and media, including representations and news coverage related to gender, race/ethnicity, class, and sexuality, disabilities, religion, and nationality, etc.. The class explores culture and intercultural communication and ways to apply these to journalistic writing as a creative process and craft. Prerequisite: MFJS 2140: News Writing & Reporting. Cross-listed with MFJS 4655.

This is a one-week intensive travel course that takes place in Tucson, Arizona and south to the US-Mexican border region. The focus of this experiential learning class is to study immigration issues, border cultures, and the role of communication and media through testimonies of immigrants, and visits to key sites such as the migrant trail, immigration detention center and courts. Also included are talks by activists and officials involved in the immigration debate. Class meets for two pre-class sessions in spring quarter. Requires junior standing. Cross-listed with MFJS 4656.

MFJS 3700 New Media Law & Regulation (4 Credits)

An examination of recent conflicts in mass communication law; topics vary with current developments. Particular emphasis is given to the legal problems of broadcasting, cable and the new communications technologies.

MFJS 3852 Advanced Design, Layout, and Editing (4 Credits)

This course teaches students advanced layout and design for media publications using contemporary software applications for journalists and public relations professionals.